Steven was whole, if not healthy. His eyes were sunken in his face, his skin sallow, body unwashed. He stank to high heaven, and they hadn’t been feeding him enough to maintain the high metabolism all werewolves had.

His eyes looked at Roman blankly for the longest moment and then he stumbled forward, rasping out, “About damn time.”

Roman caught him, kept him upright as his legs started to buckle, fury ripping through him. “Taking good care of you, were they?” he snarled, his control falling to shreds as he felt the anguish in Steven’s mind, anguish he was trying to hide.

“Well, you did warn me,” Steven said, forcing a smile. His lips were dry and cracked, and blood welled as the skin split further.

A soft voice said, “Vampires are not known for their hospitality. Especially not Capiet. They consider him still alive and able to talk quite enough.”

“He’s been being starved.” Roman’s voice had deepened warningly, and he stared at the sky, trying to force his rabid anger under control. Jenner took Steven in his arms, sending Roman a warning glance.

He was failing, badly, to keep his anger in control. Sucking badly needed air into his lungs, he summoned every last bit of his willpower and throttled the rage into submission.

Turning his eyes to Julianna, he said, “Thank you for bringing Steven to me. I hope someday I can repay this.”

She shook her head. “You don’t need to. If Eduard wasn’t who he was, this wouldn’t have happened.”

He arched a brow at her, closing the distance between them to cup her chin and lift her face to his. “Yes. And I hope you can keep in mind that if Eduard wasn’t who he was, then neither would this have happened.” The confusion darkened her eyes as she stared into his eyes, never down.

It wasn’t until he took her hands that she glanced down. She was quick, he had to give her that. And if she was fully vampire, then he never would have been able to secure her wrists with the handcuffs. Spinning her around, he tied a gag around her face, slipping it between her lips as she opened her mouth to scream.

Lowering his head, he whispered, “I’m sorry. But know this, I’ll take far better care of you then they took of my brother.”

She turned slowly in his arms, and the fiery blue gaze she directed him had him flinching inwardly. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.